David Lidington, May’s de facto deputy, called Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney on Tuesday to explain her initiative to begin talks with opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in a bid to end the deadlock, according to the person, who asked not to be named because the conversation was private. On the call, he assured Coveney that preparations to hold European Parliament elections, a key condition for the U.K. to win a longer extension, were real.
